Postgame Quotes - January 25, 2012

Pistons vs Heat

(On the growing process) – “Well, I think that there are a lot of things, I mean you look at it we’re down 10, 92-82 and as we have talked about before we’ve had tendencies where 10 can quickly become 20, and I thought our guys showed great fight and spirit and resolve and, you know, then to go up three, anytime that there is a close game you can always go and say ‘eh let’s just go and focus on that last minute thirty-three (1:33)’ and they didn’t. There was obviously plays that need to be made on both sides. (LeBron) James getting to the line six times and obviously we had some empty trips, but you have to look throughout the whole course of the game and what happens. I think for us, obviously it’s disappointing that we lose it and it kind consolation prize but I think the spirit, and the heart being in the right place for the right reasons, if we can establish that as a part of our DNA, well then guess what, you put yourself in a position to win a lot of games. It can’t be just because it’s Miami, it can’t be just because we lost to Oklahoma City, I thought there was great resolve and like I said there were plays left to be made unfortunately tonight we didn’t but I think sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture.”

(On Austin Daye and his career high) – “Well you can’t say enough good things about Austin Daye, for a guy who I wasn’t playing him, he was out of the rotation, he stepped in (tonight) and you have to give him a great deal of credit, for stepping up and having a great performance hopefully this is a spring board type of opportunity for him it was good to see that even though he missed his first two shots, but he stayed with it, took open shots and I think it’s a credit to the ball movement. The ball was swinging, it wasn’t necessarily where we were calling his number, he was in positions where he could try and take advantage of some pick and roll rotations but by in large the ball found the open man and you got to be happy for a guy like Austin Daye, who like I said, wasn’t playing and gets the opportunity and took great advantage of hit.

(On the loss tonight, compared to the loss against Oklahoma City) – “They are 100% different. You go from competing your tails out where everyone could feel the energy that our guys had out there, and at that Oklahoma City game we got blown out, it’s a loss that you know that even though, and I think I talked about this before, that when you lose, you can lose and play horrible and not play the way you rehearsed or you can lose on your terms. We lost on our terms tonight, we were just a couple plays short but it was on our terms. Obviously we had a lot of breakdowns and stuff like that and guess what Miami did too. They were completely different (losses).”

(On the game) "We did a good job executing, we drew a lot of players out of their positions and we were able to knock down shots. (Rodney) Stuckey did a great job. He only took five attempts and had 15 points. He was attacking the lane and doing what we were supposed to do."

(On what got him going) "It was the threes. When I hit one, I started feeling good about myself. Obviously, the play was big to Jonas (Jerebko), but to see the ball go in it really helps your confidence. With myself today, I think I did a good job helping my teammates out, (I was) able to drop two knockdown shots and make plays for my teammates."

(On playing defense against LeBron James): "That's exactly what I wanted, that's exactly what I'm here to do; I'm here to help my team."

(On effort tonight) "We definitely gave a great effort tonight, everybody's intensity was really high, everybody was focused and we were all playing together. It was a tough loss. Miami's obviously a good team, but we just have to give that effort every night and we'll give ourselves a chance to win."

(On playing as well as tonight) "If we play like that every night, we'll be in position to win games like we were tonight. We didn't make those plays in the last couple minutes, but at least we gave ourselves a chance I think that will go a long way."

(On the game) “It was a gutty finish. It doesn't matter. I said that last night that it doesn't matter how you get there. One way or another whether you're playing well or not playing well or the games going your way or the games going up and down. It’s very competitive and at the moment of truth in the last two or three minutes we were able to get a couple consecutive shots and be able to get some triggers. Chris (Bosh) got a couple rolls to the rim and then LeBron (James) was able to attack a couple times and knock down his free throws. So we'll take both these wins back-to-back in 48 hours and now get home and get ready for a big one on Friday."

(On clutch plays): "No question about it. We had an opportunity where we got above double digits a couple times during the course of the game where we felt we could get it to 15 but we just couldn't quite do it. You have to give them credit. Every time we got a double- digit lead they came storming right back with great plays but we were able to stay with it mentally; enough to finish it out at the end."

(On back to back): "This was a tough trip. We're not making an excuse for this because Detroit played very well. They gave us everything we could handle but these are tough trips. You get in about 3:30 or 4:00 (a.m.). You have to come back and play and there are no excuses and our guys stepped up with a real mental toughness tonight."

(On playing today) “At this point we try to figure out our back-to-back situation. We were successful the last few of them. I told Spo (Erik Spoelstra) I was good to go and you know he kept me in for the fourth. I'm glad he did."

(On the last three minutes): "We got enough stops down the stretch and we made enough plays offensively to close the game out. CB (Chris Bosh) got an and-one, got a lay up as well, and I was able to get to the free throw line. We got a couple shots down the stretch to help us win the game."

(On fourth quarter):"I think my guys know that. Like I said before I went back to Clipper game. I just got to go up and make it. When you get the opportunity you go up and make them and then you live with the results. Once again I was able to attack, mostly in the second half, and gave ourselves a good chance to win and we did that."

(On stretch of game): "We haven’t played particularly well in the second half of back-to-backs. League wide it’s a trend. I don't know what the numbers are but because of the schedule; its a crazy schedule. I think it’s a tougher to win on the second night of a back-to-back especially on the road. I don’t know what the numbers are but we certainly had our struggles this year on the second night.”

(On defense): "That’s what we expect. We expect to play tough defense. We were pretty active early in the game. For whatever reason the ball seemed to bounce the wrong way and it ended up in Monroe's hand and you can lay it up after playing good defense. We played great defense for 23 seconds and then let up on offensive rebounds. That’s been the story of our season. We played actually pretty good half court defense. We just have not been able to finish possessions and that’s been our biggest issue."